Visions
by rachlan
Summary: A young woman encounters a man from the future in this new fic called Visions. What is going on and why is this man appearing to Rachel?


**Visions** by Rachlan

A/N: This is in the Bible category but has only a few Christian themes and references.

_Summary: Our… erm… moderately decent looking heroine wakes up to find something unusual in her bed. What is going on?_

**Part 1**

That night was the same as any other night… or so I thought. I was lying in my bed, on my side, as I usually lie, trying to fall asleep. A million thoughts were running through my head, mostly thoughts about a husband. Or rather, the desire for a husband. Someone to hold me as I fall asleep… I tried to imagine what it would feel like, drawn up close to his chest, feeling him breathe in my hair… And suddenly, the arms and the breath were real. They were _there. _I screeched (I sounded like a 12 year old girl, to tell you the truth) and clumsily jumped out of bed. I ran and flipped the lights on to see a… man blinking his eyes in the bright light.

_Why'd you turn the lights on, love?_

I was honestly speechless. What in the _world_ was going on? Why was there a man in my bed? A very, very handsome half naked man… My throat went dry. And did he just call me…

"Wh-who are y-you?" I asked him suspiciously, cautiously.

He looked at me with a surprised and hurt look on his face. _What's going on, Rach? Why are you looking at me like that?_ He got out of bed slowly and I blushed fiercely when I realized he was wearing only a pair of white boxers. I looked away… after a few moments, feeling guilty for staring. In that moment, I looked down and gasped. I was wearing only underwear! I quickly covered up my top with my arms and ran to the closet to get a shirt and some shorts.

I stood in the closet for a moment, heart beating frantically, trying to figure out what was going on. 'This is a dream, this is a dream,' I chanted over and over. I figured if I kept telling myself that it would be true. All of a sudden, _he_ was there, in my tiny walk in closet _with me_. I backed up until I hit the wall. He approached slowly, and I think I started to hyperventilate. My heart started beating very fast and my breaths came in short gasps. 'I'm going crazy' was the only thing I could think, standing in my closet with a hunk looking at me with a concerned look on his face. I closed my eyes, hoping that he would disappear as this was far too weird to be real.

I opened my eyes to see bright sunlight streaming through the window next to my bed. I cautiously looked over to _that_ side of the bed, relieved to see it empty. If it seemed a bit rumpled, I attributed it to the fact that I had been wiggly in my sleep. I got up, stretched, and was further reassured that I was wearing only underwear again. 'Just a dream. Thank God,' I thought to myself. As I was thinking it, though, a wave of disappointment crashed through me. 'Too bad he is gone, though. It_ would _be awfully nice to have someone to love me…' Heart aching, I shrugged and went to take a shower.

I opened my eyes after rinsing the shampoo out of my hair and screamed. _He _was in my shower and he was completely naked! 'This screaming stuff has got to stop,' I thought idly as I ran, naked, out into the living room. He followed me, yelling at me to stop. He was faster than me, of course, and grabbed onto my arm. He spun me around and I cowered a bit. What was he going to do to me?

_Rachel Anne Carter, what is wrong with you? Why do you keep running from me? I'm your husband, for goodness sake!_

Carter? Hold on a second… "Husband? What are you talking about? I don't have a husband!" I yelled at him.

A look of hurt crossed his face. _What…? What do you mean, you don't have a husband? _

I scowled at him, wrenching my arm free. Ignoring my… erm… unclothed state, I repeated the words, slowly. "I. Don't. Have. A. Husband. How difficult is that to understand? I think I would remember if I had gotten married! I have never even had a boyfriend, so how ON EARTH could I _possibly_ have a husband?"

The handsome man just stood there, speechless. It was then that I got a good chance to look at his… face. He was about three inches taller than me, from what I could tell. He had dark brown, longish hair- you know, the kind that begs to be run through with your fingers. His eyes were a warm chocolate brown- full of stunned confusion at the moment. He was…mmm… lightly muscled and lean and his stomach was washboard thin. He was tan and slickly wet. My eyes stopped at his bellybutton. "Oh, for Pete's sake!" With that, I rushed to the bathroom to get two towels. I wrapped one _firmly _around myself, went out, and tossed the other one to him, still not looking… there.

He wrapped it around his lower half calmly and gestured me to sit on the couch. I did…reluctantly and watched as he sat on the other end, one _sole_ cushion between me and _Mr.-I'm-so-sexy-you-want-to-eat-me._ Fabulous.

He began to speak, haltingly. _So you don't know who I am? You've… never seen me before?_

I was relieved. He was _finally _starting to understand. "Yes- erm- no, I mean." I coughed slightly. Good lord, I was nervous… "No, I have never seen you before," I said and mumbled "much to my regret."

_What was that?_

"Erm… nothing. So… who _are_ you?"

_Um, right, so this is… really weird. I'm Sean Carter, your husband. _

Husband, husband, husband. The word swirled around in my head, around and around and around. I had a husband? Must have missed _that_ memo.

He continued, _We got married three months ago. At your home church. Pastor Neal. Any of this ringing any bells?_

I sighed, feeling more depressed than before. If only this was real, and I _was_ married. Oh, how I wished it were so! "Sorry, no. Why on earth is this happening?" I stood up and began to pace. Back and forth, back and forth. 'Is this a weird daydream? Have I died and this is God's idea of a funny joke? Why is this happening?' I shouted the last silently to my Maker. He was silent.

Sean Carter was a reasonably sane man, or so he had always thought. This _unusual _situation, though, had him wondering if he was going crazy after all. He watched as his beautiful wife paced their living room floor, a look of utmost confusion and anxiety on her face. He hated to see her like this. The past three months had been the best and the happiest in his life. He had never expected to find a woman like his Rach. She had been- was- a spot of sunshine in his otherwise drab and boring life. He absolutely adored her and now… now she was saying she didn't know him. It cut Sean's heart to the quick. Sharp pain assaulted him where his heart should have been… for he was sure this person in his precious wife's body had taken it out and stomped on it.

After several moments of frenzied pacing, I sat back down on the couch, realizing panicking wasn't helping either of us. I tentatively reached my hand out and brushed it along the side of his face. He leaned into my touch before looking up at me, startled. I immediately pulled my hand back.

_Not that I'm objecting, but why did you just do that?_

I blushed a little. Stupid face. "I- uh- uh-" I cleared my throat. "I just had to make sure you were real. That I- um- wasn't dreaming…" I trailed off, embarrassed. "Because you were-erm- there last night and then I woke up this morning and you were gone. And then poof you were in the shower with me. And now you're here. And I just don't know what's going on," I muttered to myself.

You grabbed my hand and I, for some odd reason, let you. It felt... really, really nice actually. _Listen, Baby- er Rachel-_ you amended the title at my look- _I don't know what's going on either. But it will be alright, you'll see. The reason we were together last night in the closet and then you woke up alone is because you fainted. I carried you to the bed and got you out of those silly clothes. _You blushed a little at that, then continued as if you hadn't said it. _I wasn't in bed this morning because I was getting breakfast for us. I heard the shower run and decided that sounded like an excellent idea. You didn't hear me get in because of the noise of the shower. And that's that, _you concluded rather lamely. I have to admit that you were cute, though, looking sort of bashful.

"O-kay. Well, uh, I don't quite know what to do about this. I'm going to go get dressed. I'll be back in a minute." With that, I left my... husband... gaping after me like a fish. I closed the bedroom door firmly behind me and sank to the floor. I pulled my knees to my chest, rested my head on them, and sobbed. Why was God doing this to me? Why was He torturing me like this? Tantalizing me with what will never happen? It was cruel and I wasn't pleased with Him, to tell you the truth.

The moment the door closed, Sean sighed loudly. What was he supposed to _do _about this situation? What did _God_ expect him to do in this situation? He missed his wife. At this time- when things were normal- he and Rach would be eating breakfast together, laughing over the comics or some humorous story about something that had happened the previous day. It was- with a few exceptions- one of his favorite times of the day.

Just then, he heard a soft, muffled sobbing. His heart felt as if it might break in two. His wife hardly _ever _cried. She must really be upset about this situation. Heck, he was upset about this situation. What was going on? Before he could further contemplate this, he got up from the couch and went to comfort his wife.

Ten minutes later, both husband and wife were dressed and a little bit more composed.

I sat down at the kitchen table with a glass of milk and a bowl of cereal. I, for the most part, tried to ignore the sexy man sitting across from me as I ate. I couldn't deal with this right now- I had to get to work. The animals didn't stop needing food and care just because I was having a _crisis. _I already had to leave for the zoo in twenty minutes. I spared a look at my _husband _to see how he was dealing with this. He wasn't there. "Sean?" Nothing. I shook my head, exasperated, and went outside to see if he was sitting on the porch swing. He wasn't. 'Where did he go?' I asked myself. It's not like I _missed_ him or something, I just wanted to know where he was. 'You keep telling yourself that, doll,' a voice in my head taunted me.

I looked around the house for the man, but couldn't find him. Where had he gone? He couldn't have just disappeared... Several moment later, I decided there was nothing for it. I had to get ready for work.

Thirteen minutes later, I left my house, visions of the sexy man dancing in my head. Ah well.

Part 2

I didn't see him again until three weeks later. I was at the zoo, giving a talk on the toco toucan, a bird in my South America rotation that I was expected to give a talk on. I was about in the middle of my speech when I looked out in the audience and saw HIM surrounded by seventeen 10 year olds. My heart and my speech ceased for a moment. My husband. What was he doing here? I had convinced myself- for the most part- that the exceedingly handsome man was a part of my imagination- a vivid part, but my imagination nonetheless. How was he back?

I ended my speech quickly, dismissed the kids, and slowly walked towards Sean. As soon as I reached him, he picked me up, twirled me around (like I weighed little more than a feather!) and kissed me. On the lips. With tongue. Ohhhh. My first kiss, and good gravy, could he kiss. Not that I knew what a good kiss felt like, but...

Gracious! I hesitantly began kissing him back after several shocked heartbeats. 'This is wrong, this is wrong,' I kept telling myself. 'I'm not who he thinks I am. Well, I'm not the version of me...' Suddenly lack of breath caused him to break off the kiss.

"Hey," he whispered softly against my lips.

"Hey," I whispered back, too kiss-stunned to think of anything else to say. I had to tell him- I had to! But I didn't want to! Not if it meant he would kiss me like that again... But if I was anything, I was honest. Even when I didn't want to be.

"Stupid conscience," I mumbled. "Sean, did you know..."

Before I could finish my sentence, he had backed up, taken a good look at me and finished it for me. "That I'm in the past again? Yeah, just figured that out. Um, sorry about before..." my future husband murmured.

I quickly corrected him. "Don't... don't be sorry about that. It was really good, actually. Seems right that you should give me my first kiss, after all, doesn't it?" I finished thoughtfully.

He stared at me a moment. "Your first..." he mumbled. "Yes, I suppose it does."

I remembered the last time he left. "What happened to you last time? You just seemed to... disappear."

Sean looked like he was remembering. "Erm, yes. I did. I guess. One moment I was in the kitchen with you and the next moment I was in the kitchen with- future you, I guess you could say. It was odd."

"Did you say anything to her- I mean, me?" I asked, confused as to how to refer to my future self. I put my hand on my head. This situation was far too confusing for my tastes.

"About this?" he gestured about, referring to the past. "No. Should I have, d'ya think?"

I thought carefully for a moment. "I don't know. I'm assuming I remember this... unusual situation. Maybe you could mention it to her. Me. See what she. I. say."

"I suppose I will. When I go back. Which I don't know when that will be. It was so sudden last time."

As soon as the words left your mouth, you were gone. This time, my only thought was 'Bugger.' I was starting to like you.

**Part 3**

I was eagerly hoping for the next time he would arrive. I had so much to tell my future husband. First and foremost being: I had met him! A past version of him, obviously, but him nevertheless. He was younger, but still just as handsome. I appreciated the laugh lines that graced future-you's face though.

I saw him when I first entered church this morning. When I saw him, I think I gaped at him for several moments before I realized what I was doing and embarrassed- ly looked away. I'm sure he thinks I'm really weird. Great.

I didn't see him again until after church when I bumped into him. Literally. I, of course, fell on my butt. Hard. "Oof," I murmured. Ouch. I was looking at the ground when I felt a hand grasp mine. I looked up quickly, remembering his firm hands. "I'm sorry," he murmured as he helped me up.

I smiled a little at Sean's familiar (though younger) face. "It's no problem," I told him as I casually wiped my skirt off.

As I looked into his gorgeous chocolate eyes, I was reminded that this was my future husband. 'Lord, please don't let me mess this up,' I prayed desperately. I again stuck out my hand. "Hi, my name's Rachel," I said, mustering up some courage.

"Carter, Sean Carter." He shook my hand firmly.

"It's really good to meet you Sean," I said in what I hoped was an attractively friendly manner.

He looked at me strangely. "Um you too."

An awkward silence ensued and I stood there fidgeting with my skirt hem. I hated awkward silences.

"Will I see you here next week?" I asked eventually.

"I don't know," he said after a moment. "I'm looking for a church right now. Just moved into the area, actually."

I smiled at him. Finally, something to talk about. "Welcome then. It really is a beautiful city and this church is really great. I only moved here about six months ago."

"Oh really? Where are you from..."

The conversation continued until Sean and I were the only ones left in the church, except for the pastor who apologetically shooed us out.

Sean looked at me sheepishly. "I didn't realize we'd been talking that long," he admitted to me.

I smiled at him. He really was very easy to talk to. A lot easier than I expected. I had never really spent much time talking to boys. Heck, I had hardly spent any amount of time with any boys that were my age. It was nice. He was intelligent and funny and I liked him a lot already; I had only been talking to 'present' Sean for about half an hour.

"Would- would you like to go out to lunch with me?" Sean asked somewhat hesitantly.

I stopped, stunned. I would get my first kiss _and _my first date from my future husband? Weird. "Sure," I said after a moment. "I'd love to."

Four hours later, I returned home. Sean and I had gone to the local ice cream shoppe that had sandwiches and we had sat and talked there for two hours.

Right before I pulled out of the parking lot at the ice cream parlor, Sean kissed my cheek and asked if I would be free the following Sunday to do this again. I agreed. Of course I agreed.

Part 4

Two weeks and three dates later, I was smitten with my future husband's past self. Dating was a lot more fun than I would have expected before having experienced it. We had gone to the park and played on the playground like children our third date, and gone out to lunch, a movie and a fancy restaurant four our fourth, fifth, and sixth dates, respectively. I was having a blast. Sean really was the sweetest guy I had ever had the pleasure to meet. He wasn't perfect of course- he was a GUY after all, but he was delightful company.

I was sitting on my couch, thinking about all these things when I heard my friend Amy call out from my kitchen, asking if I wanted some cookies. We had gotten together for some girl time; I had been so busy with work and Sean that I hadn't had time for her in quite a while. I felt guilty about it and invited her over for a completely girly slumber party, chick flicks included, of course. I was just about to answer her when the doorbell rang. "I got it," I called out to her.

I walked calmly to the door and looked through the peephole. (A girl on her own has to take precautions, after all.) It was Sean! 'Shoot,' I thought. 'I could have sworn I told him about this! What is he doing here?' Not that I wasn't glad to see him, of course, but I needed this time with my friend. I would just have to tell him...

I pulled open the door and he immediately grabbed me in a bear hug. "Oh Darling, I'm so sorry. I never meant anything by it! It's not what you think. Please forgive me. Don't let this ruin..." He was gone as quickly as he had come. My mind- which had stopped functioning when he started babbling- started to function again and I realized I had just seen my future husband again. But what on earth was he on about? Forgive him for what?

"Rach? What was that all about?" Amy called, walking through with a cookie dough covered spoon in her hand.

I blanched. Dangit. What was I supposed to tell Amy? (Of course I hadn't told anyone about meeting my future husband! Who would have believed me?) I frantically tried to think of some excuse for my _mile-a-minute-excuse-blabbering_ future husband.

"Erm, it was no one. Just some salesperson. I sent them off. Don't need any of what they're selling anyway." I hoped-prayed- she would buy the excuse. It would be far too much effort to explain the presence and subsequent absence of a future Sean Carter.

"Oh. Ok," she mumbled, her tongue licking the dough off her fingers. I sighed in relief then closed the door and flopped back onto the couch. What had that all been about? What had future-Sean done that I would have misconstrued? He sounded so desperate! And why was he ringing the doorbell? Shouldn't he have just come in... My thoughts turned darker then. Did this mean our marriage was on the rocks? In jeopardy? 'Dear Lord, please don't let it be so,' I murmured to the Father. 'Please don't let me lose this man I am already half in love with...'

"Miss, miss are you alright?" The voice was very loud and made my throbbing head hurt even worse. I shook my head in confusion, stopping when that made the throbbing worse. 'What's going on?' I asked myself. A moment ago I was in my house with Amy and Sean just left... "Sean!" I burst out, sitting up abruptly.

The man in front of me looked shocked. "How did you know my name?" he asked questioningly. I almost sobbed in relief. It was Sean, my Sean. I hadn't lost him! I grabbed him in a fierce hug. It took me a moment to notice that he was stiff as a rock in my arms and- "Wait a second." I pulled away and looked into his precious face. It was him, of course it was him. Then why did he say... "You don't know who I am?" I asked him, feeling a strange sense of dejavu.

He looked at me in surprise. "No miss," he murmured politely. "I just found you laying here"- he gestured to the sidewalk in front of my home- "and thought you might need some help. You must have slipped or something. How did you know my name?" he repeated.

I could have screamed in frustration. What was going on? Why did these confusing things keep happening to me? Had he lost his memory or something odd? And how had I fallen? It was a sunny spring day out! I was still contemplating these things when I noticed he was waiting for an answer.

"Erm, well, you see..." I paused, unsure how I was going to answer. "I must have thought you were someone else," I trailed off pathetically. 'No way he's going to buy that,' I thought angrily to myself.

"Hmm," he said. "That's kind of funny, then, because my name is Sean. Sean Carter," he introduced himself, grasping my hand and helping me up from where I had lain on the sidewalk. "Nice to meet you, though I wish it were through better circumstances," he mumbled. I chuckled a little. My head was still throbbing a bit, and I wanted nothing more than to take a few Ibuprofen and go to sleep. I needed to think all this over and find out why Sean didn't know who I was.

I didn't want to be rude, though. "Would you like to come in for a glass of lemonade?" I asked him quietly.

He smiled at me gently. "I would love to, but your head is probably hurting a fair bit, so I will have to take a rain check on that if I can?" he asked me kindly.

Despite knowing this man a fair bit, I was touched by his kindness. He really was a wonderful person. "That is very thoughtful of you, thank you. How can I get in touch with you?" I asked him, but then cringed. Was that too soon, too abrupt? _Apparently _this Sean didn't know me yet. But he, thankfully, smiled again.

"Well, you can just pop on over!" he said happily.

I looked at him in confusion. I must have missed something. My head affected me worse than I thought... "Pop over?" I asked.

"Sure," he said. "I'm your new next door neighbor!"

The End.


End file.
